Cytiva has deepened its partnership with Culture Biosciences, introducing the Stratyx 250 process development bioreactor. Speaking to BioPharma Boardroom, Jon Van Pelt, Vice President and General Manager for Single-use Technologies at Cytiva, shares how this collaboration bridges small-scale and production-scale bioprocessing, leverages cloud-native data integration, and supports a phased global rollout—empowering both emerging biotechs and established players to bring therapies to market faster.

What market trends or customer demands led Cytiva to deepen its partnership with Culture Biosciences at this point in time, particularly around hardware commercialization?

At Cytiva, we believe the power of collaboration can advance the biopharma industry faster than going it alone.  By working with Culture Biosciences we can provide early-stage clinical researchers or biopharma customers access to a process development (PD) version of Cytiva’s bioreactor which can scale up to 2 000 liters.

Our collaboration will help accelerate process development timelines.  Customers who want to use Cytiva bioreactors have a PD version that looks, feels, and operates like the production scale version. Having a truly scalable platform from 250mL to 2000L will drive a new level of speed and efficiency for our customers.

The Stratyx 250 bioreactor enables a scale-up from 250 mL to 2,000 L. Could you elaborate on how this integrated solution addresses longstanding challenges in process development and scalability across clinical and commercial production?

By starting your PD process with a scalable bioreactor, customers will be able to scale up or down easily as needed using a representative version of their process.  This takes complexity out of the process since the scale down version looks, feels and operates like the production scale.  The consistency in the technology from 250mL to 2000L adds a new level of efficiency for customers.

With Culture’s strength in cloud-native systems, how do you envision data connectivity transforming biomanufacturing efficiency and decision-making for clients?

By integrating small-scall bioreactors with cloud-enabled data platforms, customers can:

• Accelerate development timelines
• Optimize workflows
• Scale processes confidently

This approach empowers both emerging biotechs and established players to make faster, data-driven decisions and reduce development costs.  These capabilities enable real-time monitoring/decision making and prescriptive automation.  This supports the industry thinking that interoperability and data harmonization are essential for next generation biomanufacturing.  Ultimately, we hope to turn isolated unit operations into a connected ecosystem enabling smarter, faster and more reliable bioprocessing.   

As Cytiva assumes exclusive global distribution of the Stratyx 250 platform, which regions or markets are you prioritizing initially, and how does this tie into Cytiva’s broader global strategy?

Our ultimate goal is to leverage the strength of Cytiva’s global commercial footprint. We will do a phased global roll out beginning in the US market, followed rapidly by rollouts in all other regions.

Beyond the Stratyx 250, what can we expect from the joint development pipeline? Are there any new bioreactor formats or technologies on the horizon?

We are always reviewing our portfolio, looking at the needs of the industry, determining where innovation is needed most, and speaking with our customers to determine where we should invest and collaborate.

Our plan in the near future is to expand the Stratyx product line.  The expanded portfolio will feature consumables built with Cytiva’s Xcellerex X-Platform technology, enabling customers to seamlessly scale up from 250 mL to 2 000 liters. 

How will the expanded product line and cloud-enabled approach help your customers reduce development timelines or optimize workflows, particularly in emerging biotechs versus established biopharma players?

By combining Culture’s expertise in cloud-enabled, small-scale bioreactors with Cytiva’s global scale and bioprocessing leadership, the two companies are poised to deliver a fully integrated solution—from benchtop to production scale—to the industry.  It empowers biopharma innovators to accelerate development timelines, improve data connectivity, and scale processes with confidence.